


Part 1

by ScorpioDarkMoon



Series: Nom de Guerre, A Blood Alloy Prequel [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fights, Fun, Gun Violence, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 06:30:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16258610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScorpioDarkMoon/pseuds/ScorpioDarkMoon
Summary: "They won't follow me, as far as they're concerned I'm the reason they're in this hell hole."I strode passed him to the toppled mannequin. silently I set it back on its stand, pulled the coat off, shook it out. Holding it out to him I looked him in the unfamiliar black eyes. "well, maybe it's time to become someone else entirely."





	Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel or at least the idea that i've had for a prequel to Blood Alloy. I found myself needing to write a new story, something i hadn't given a great deal of thought to before and this is just the first rough draft of the first chapter. Let me know if any of you might like to read something like this.

Bullets whizzed by my head and lodged in the wall just ahead. I dodged down a new alley, pumping my legs as fast as they could. They weren’t use to running without the pistons and actuators supplying some power. My heart thudded in my throat. The blood had spread across my uniform, no way of knowing where the wounds were anymore or how bad they were. For hell’s sake. This couldn’t end now. 

“come back human! And we’ll make it quick!” the mutant’s bellowed after me.

Yeah quick. Quick to turn me into one of them probably, or make me into some kind of breading animal. For all my years I still wasn’t sure how Supermutants reproduced. Plenty of rumors around it and none of them pleasant. Another bullet streaked across my leg. I lost my balance and hit the ground in a heap. The hounds howled in triumph while the mutants laughed.

“laugh while you can freaks!” I span around and fired into the approaching pack. Red lasers streaked into the ranks. Brought a couple down with the spray and pray method. The others dodged out of sight.

Then the gun stopped firing.

Shit, that was my last fusion core. Desperately I tossed the now useless dead weight aside and scrambled up again. Back to running. Back to panting. Back to the adrenaline sending my body into a kind of overdrive it had never known. Not for a long while at any rate. Not since that man had taken me in. Not since I’d left home and joined what I thought was something bigger. I thought that things would get better with that. I thought my life wouldn’t be meaningless. But here I was. about to die like any other wastelander. What a waste. 

Then, miracles of miracles.

I careened through a wood gate. I barely noticed it until I heard the whir of turrets firing up. Terrified I skidded to a stop, head on a swivel. Just what I needed. Damn turrets. Shouting turned my attention around back to the gate I’d just run through. Men in baseball gear surged toward it. On top turrets were already firing into the horde chasing me. For a second I stood there and gaped. Maybe there really was a god. One of the guards went down. His gun skidded to my feet. 

Swooping it up I went to reinforce the men. The mutants didn’t stand a chance even if they tried. Their hounds all charged us in one big mass. One of them got through the firing line and pounced on a guard. He went down in a screaming heap while the hound tore into him. I swore and swung the butt of my gun into the side of the hound’s head. it yelped and leapt away, turning gnashing teeth toward me. His muzzle was covered in blood, the guard was beginning to shake. He was just a kid, for god’s sake. 

The hound howled and charged me. I rolled, biting back the pain my bullet wounds washed through. I came out of the roll with my gun up. Four bullets left the muzzle before it clicked and jammed. Thankfully that’s all the hound needed. It hit the ground, blood pouring out of the bullet wounds on its head. 

Panting I dropped my gun and turned to the guard. “hold on! Just hold on!” 

He gritted his teeth, eyes screwed shut. At least he hadn’t gone into shock, but he already looked pale from the blood loss. Short black hair plastered to his forehead while he writhed around on the ground. Under my hands his stomach just kept bleeding. This wasn’t good.

“he needs a doctor!” I screamed at the guards.

“go get Sun!” somebody yelled. Two guards tore off away from the carnage. Another landed beside me. “shit Scot, just hang in there.”

“don’t worry cap….” Scot coughed painfully. “I’ll be… fine.” 

“shut up and save your energy.” 

I tore off the sleeves of my uniform. It was already almost entirely shredded anyway, what did it matter? Even as I tied the pitiful bandage around his middle I could hear my mentor’s voice in my head reprimanding me for not respecting the uniform. 

Footsteps came racing toward us. “I got Sun!”

“who is it?” a woman’s voice cut through the chaos in a severe tone. 

“it’s Scot doctor.”

“step aside.” Someone knelt on the other side of the bleeding boy.

“no can do doctor, if I take my hands off he’ll bleed out.” I took my eyes off the wound just long enough to get a look at the woman. She had long black hair tied in a tight ponytail, dark eyes. Chinese or maybe Japanese descent, never could tell the difference. Beside her a teenager stood with scruffy black hair but a sharp look like the woman. Related?

“you’re doing well, I see you’ve done field patches before.”

“nothing like this.” I dropped my gaze back to Scot. 

“Xiu, where are those compresses? We need to stop the bleeding before we can give him a Stimpak.” 

The boy slid a pack from his shoulders and handed over what basically amounted to a clean rag. Well in the wasteland there wasn’t much better. 

“on the count of three remove your hands, one, two, three.” 

I slid back as she slipped the rag over the wound. 

She sighed. “alright, so far so good. Xiu wrap it, stranger will you help him?”

“of course.” Like I’d just up and leave in the middle of all this. Scot by now had already slipped out of consciousness. Gently I helped lift him while the teenager gently wrapped his stomach with white bandages and tape. Pretty soon the wound was totally covered up. Blood was still seeping through. 

“that’ll have to do. Go get the stretcher, stranger I’m going to need your help carrying him inside.” 

“of course.” Even if I wasn’t used to taking orders it’d just be selfish to argue with her now. My own injuries could wait until the urgent one was taken care of. But at least the crisis was averted for the time being. While she stabbed the kid with a Stimpak I sat back on my haunches to look around. We were in the middle of a big square, with a statue of a baseball player gone blue in the rain. Behind him a massive wall just suddenly shot up out of the ground. It took me a few minutes too long to understand what I was looking at. A baseball diamond. Well I’ll be damned. That was a smarter place to stick a settlement than an old battle ship. Hell of a lot smarter than surrounding an inert radioactive bomb. 

Xiu came back with a bare bones stretcher, running out from what had once been the admissions gate to the stadium. Well in a way I supposed it still was. Sun laid it down beside Scot and together we gently lifted him onto it. She took one end and I took the other. Together we trotted through the gates to the settlement beyond.

I wasn’t expecting much, you never did in the wasteland. The biggest settlement I’d ever seen was the aforementioned Megaton but even that was a sad sight on a good day. This place was better. The houses didn’t look quite as sad although they were still made of metal and cinderblocks and, was that a bus? 

It was sizable too. Plenty of space in the field of the old baseball stadium. The town itself was closer to the front but in the outfield they had working farms, a playground even a place to assemble and what looked to be a purification plant. All fairly impressive after the kinds of sad places I’d grown used to. 

Sun didn’t give me much of a chance to admire the view. With a tug we went trotting down the steps toward the town proper. Guards stopped and gawked at us, all wearing the same uniform Scot sported. Guess they took the whole baseball diamond thing seriously here. Weird choice if you asked me. Just inside what looked to be the market we walked through to a building on the right. There she directed me to place Scot on a table. 

Rolling her sleeves up she turned to me. “my son and I can handle the rest from here. Go sit down and when I’m done with Scot I’ll have a look at you.”

I shrugged but winced as my every wound twinged. “I can take care of myself, if you’ve got a private place.” 

“Xiu, go show her the basement then get back here to assist me.”

“sure mom.” The kid’s voice was a severe as his face. He led me to a door just beside the outdoor surgery suite and left me alone.

There was no other place for me to go but inside. Not as if I had a place to go and I wasn’t getting a better offer. So I slipped inside and down the steps to a small dimly lit room. It was a little cramped and looked to be used of surgery too. There were some supplies sitting on a table in a corner but I ignored them. My supplies, including my money, had been lost days ago. No way to pay her back. Instead I just went about butchering my own clothes as much as I’d dare to make bandages for the worst of the wounds. There were a lot of bullet grazes, some scrapes and cuts, and a handful of burns. 

As I stripped my pants legs I winced and sat up. Blood had started oozing out of my side again. Shit. When had I got a bullet there? Gingerly I probed the wound with my fingers only to discover the feeling of a metal ball still inside. Ah hell. This was the sort of thing I wasn’t good at. Digging a lead ball out of my own body. 

Before I could even resolve to just leave it in, the door opened and the doctor came walking down. “alright then, lets have a look at you.” 

I backed up a pace. “I don’t have any money doctor.”

Dismissively she waved her hand. “we’ll worry about payment later, you’re injured, I’m a doctor, now let me have a look.” 

Not that she gave me much choice in the matter. Her steady hands were already working on the straps to my armor before I could say anything. Under my ruined uniform my under clothes were soaked in blood and sweat. She didn’t seem to mind as she guided me to a bed against a wall. “hm… there’s a slug left here, I’ll have to remove it if you don’t want to risk infection.”

“alright….”

“lay back and hold still.” She guided me down to lie flat then reached for some tools.

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the pain and awful tugging as she worked. “how’s Scot?”

“he’ll live thanks to you. if it weren’t for your quick response I may not have been able to save him.” Her calm strong voice was almost reassuring, if it weren’t for the pain. 

“I just reacted.”

“you’ve got good instincts then.” For a second she fell silent while she worked. The pain reached new heights until at last she sat back. “finished, how do you feel?”

“like I’ve been shot.” 

“that’s liable to be the case.” She nodded as if I’d just said an extremely wise thing, with that condescending smile. 

This woman would be the death of me. Replacing what was left of my uniform I stood shakily. “I don’t have any money to pay you for all this.”

“I told you, worry about healing up then you can think about repaying me. Do you have anywhere to stay?” she put away her equipment and handed me a Stimpak.

With some reluctance I stabbed myself in the side with it. “no, I don’t know anyone here.” 

“were you with a caravan?” 

That was a complicated question. Orders were not to reveal ourselves to the local population. But what good did orders do anymore if I was the only one left? And besides that what was the point of hiding who I was? “yeah, with a caravan.” There were still plenty of reasons to hide. 

Sun seemed to sense my reluctance to talk but didn’t go any further. Instead she set aside her medical bag and took me under the arm. “if you don’t have a place to recover I’ll set you up at the Dugout Inn.” 

“I don’t have-”

“I’m well aware, just do as the doctor orders.” 

“yes ma’am.” Those words slipped out too easily. 

Sun led me up out of the basement to the market above. I hadn’t even kept track of time out there. It was just a whole lot of running and gunning. And hiding for that matter. So it surprised me when we stepped out and discovered the sun had already sunk below the walls of the baseball diamond. I followed her around the side of the building, passing by her son making the final touches on Scot’s injuries. 

A woman slammed right into me, sending me to the ground in a painful heap. “sorry! Sorry!” 

“it’s fine….” I muttered around a strained voice. 

“Scot’s fine Becky, you didn’t need to knock out my other patients.” Sun scolded with only a little bite.

Rolling over I finally looked at the woman standing over me. She was maybe twenty or so, with thick black hair. A long fingered hand with small band aids on the tips extended to me. “sorry, he’s just my friend.” 

“no problem.” With her help I stood. Every movement burned the wound in my side. 

“are you the stranger that helped save his life?” a man’s voice called over from behind. 

We both turned to find a fair haired man striding toward us looking half worried, half annoyed. Behind those dark rimmed glasses he looked between me and Becky then right passed us to where Scot lay. 

“yes, I did what I could.” It probably wouldn’t do to admit I’d been the reason the Supermutants had come this direction in the first place. 

“you saved him?!” Becky had a set of lungs on her. she threw up a finger at me. “stay right here, I’ll be right back.”

“Beck-” but she’d already torn off to a set of stairs beside the market, leaving the man with a comical half smile. He looked back at me and offered me his hand. “My name’s Noah, Scot’s my very stupid boyfriend so thanks for looking out for him.” 

“I just reacted.” Wasn’t sure how many times I’d be able to tell people that. 

“either way, thanks. If you need anything look me up.” He brushed by me then and went to his boyfriend’s side. The way he looked down at the unconscious kid was almost too sweet to look at. 

Becky came back right about then. She shoved a pile of clothes into my hands. “here, your clothes are literally ruined. It’s the least I can do to thank you.”

“I appreciate it.” 

“if you’re done accosting my patient she needs rest.” Sun’s hand wrapped around my arm and before I knew it I was being dragged away again. This really was a weird place. The people all seemed just slightly unhinged, or maybe they just weren’t what I was used to. It was certainly a different kind of breed than I was used to meeting. 

Sun wasn’t all that strange. I was used to dealing with authoritative figures like her. taking orders was always easier than trying to make decisions for yourself. With her hand wrapped tight around my wrist I didn’t have a choice in fallowing her out of the market down an alley to a dugout built into the side of the stadium. A big sign over the door read Dugout Inn. Catchy name, if not imaginative. 

Inside music drifted in the air, some lively tune. Uranium fever if I recognized it right. It came to an end just as we entered and a woman’s sultry voice spoke over it. “nothing quite like Elton Britt is there? This next one is a personal favorite of mine. Goes out to all you women out there dealing with this particular wild animal. This is it’s a man by Betty Hutton.” 

“you’ve been here for eight hours!” an angry gravely voice bellowed over the top of the song, totally ruining it.

“and I’m hopin to make it twelve.” A deeply sarcastic voice answered. 

“I’m cutting you off. Least till you pay off your tab.” A ghoul had a scrawny, curly blond man by the shoulder. Dragging him across the room while he stumbled on his own feet. 

I watched with amusement as the man tugged himself free, stumbled a step, and fell right into. Gripping my arms for support he looked up through bleary blue eyes. “well hey there good lookin. What’s your name?”

“none of your business.”

“oooohh an icy one is it? Bet I could melt you.” he winked like he was the smoothest damn thing in the place and didn’t stink of bad booze. 

It still amused me. Even when the ghoul dragged him off me. “come on McDonough before you make a bigger fool of yourself.”

“McDonough is my bro, I’m John ya old codger.” He spat angrily and literally he spat, on the old codger. 

Not that he seemed to notice or care. He just rolled his jet black eyes at him and carried him toward the door. “I’ll be with you ladies in a moment when I’m done taking out the trash, sit tight. Vadim! Get them a drink!” 

“sure thing boss!” a jovial young man bounced excitedly behind the bar, reaching for a couple bottles. “what’ll it be? The Dugout’s got the best moonshine this side of the crater!” 

“I don’t drink.” I replied automatically. 

“nonsense! Everyone drinks!” 

“you’ve got yourself an interesting accent.” No point arguing about that statement by the look of things. this guy didn’t strike me as the type to follow any kind of logic known to man. 

He puffed out his chest proudly. “me and my brother are the only ones with accents like this! We’re proud!” 

I bet you are. 

The ghoul’s return saved me from having to figure out more ways to distract the bar tender from my refusal to drink. He gave me a once over and whistled around his scarred lips. “what happened to you?” 

“Supermutants.” 

“well damn, sorry to hear about that.” 

“Wiseman can you put her up for a couple of nights while she recovers?” Sun took control of the conversation, which was disappointing, so far Wiseman seemed like the easiest to talk to. “you can put it on my tab and I’ll pay for it later.” 

“of course, but one of these days you should ask the mayor for one of the buildings to serve as a hospital. I can’t keep lending you rooms.” His teasing tone contrasted with his serious look. 

She waved her hand. “you know Mayor Hawkins will just talk me in a circle.” 

“yeah, yeah, he’s good at that.” Wiseman looked me up and down again. At this rate I was beginning to hope this conversation would be quick. I could go a long while without rest but I was beginning to discover my own limits. “so what’s your story?” 

“got attacked, got chased and got shot. Lucky I found this place when I did.” 

“now that’s everyone’s story in a nutshell.” He took a step to look back at the bar and Vadim. “hey kid, go help your brother whip something up for our guest. We’ve got some left overs from that big order from Hawkins. Use some of that.” 

“sure thing!” still as jovial as ever he bounced away out of sight. 

“I don’t have any money, I can’t stress this enough.” If I had to say that one more time.

But Wiseman waved his hand. “it’s left overs so it don’t cost me a thing. Considering it an investment in your good health.”

“in other words you’re hoping to hire me for a job.” That’s usually where things led in the wasteland. Nobody did anything for you without expecting something in return. I was too exhausted to be upset. 

“maybe.”

“Wiseman lay off her until she’s recovered.” Sun rolled her eyes contemptuously. “she just got here, let her get her feet before you start recruiting her.” 

“yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Room three is available, I’ll have Yafim bring ya something to eat. Off ya get.” 

“thank you.” once again Sun took hold of my arm and dragged me off toward a door on the side of the bar. I was beginning to feel like her kid the way she ordered me around. Or maybe my captain. One or the other. 

The room was modest, with just a bed, a dresser and a radio that still spat out music. It was something a bit quieter now, shame. “thanks for all the help doctor.” 

“it’s my job. Just don’t ruin all my hard work by dying out there.” 

I smirked. “I’ll try not to.”

“now about the payment.” 

Here we go. I knew it was coming and it hardly surprised me she brought it up so early. I hadn’t even gotten a night’s rest. Of course if I had the money I wouldn’t have even argued with her on the price. “what have you got in mind?”

“there are always odd jobs to be done around the diamond. I’m sure Valentine won’t mind sharing the work load. You could ask him about jobs if you see him. And I may have to go make a house call outside the walls and I wouldn’t pass up having a trained guard.”

Guard duty, now that was something I could easily do. Offering her a smile I nodded. “I’ll be happy to escort you. I’ll have to get a gun of course.”

“right, Mitch over at Commonwealth Weaponry. If you tell him I asked you to he’ll lend you something. Probably just a snub-nosed.” 

“anything that shoots straight works fine for me.” I doubted I’d find a laser rifle out here. And if I did it’d probably be in the hands of a mercenary or something. Back to basics I suppose. 

“alright. When you’ve rested enough and your wounds aren’t actively bleeding come find me. I’m trusting you not to run off at first chance.” 

“do I seem like that kind of person?” it was almost laughable. 

And she knew it. She shrugged and turned in the doorway. “if you’re not then you’re really not from around here are you?”

“no, I’m not.” That was kind of an understatement. 

“well, let me be the first to properly welcome you to Diamond city, the commonwealth’s safest settlement.” The mildest tang of sarcasm laced her voice. 

“that’s the warmest welcome I’ve ever gotten.” It said something about the life I lead that that was the most honest I’d been this whole time. Or maybe it said something about me. 

Sun flashed me a smile that didn’t hold any of the severity she’d carried before. “get some rest, don’t let Wiseman guilt trip you into anything, and don’t let Vadim talk you into an early grave.” 

“thanks again.” 

Waving she disappeared through the door.

With a heavy sigh I sat on the bed and leaned over my knees. Under all the aches and pains there was a little relief. At least I’d survived this far. Despite losing my armor, my friends, my squad and my mentor, I was still here. I’d thought for sure I’d die out there, trapped in hostile territory miles away from my home. Lucky me I’d found some semblance of sanctuary before those Supermutants got to me. 

Then I looked down at myself. with pained groans I peeled off the tight material revealing just how bad my injuries were. Over a week on the run in the wasteland left its mark. Bruises, cuts you name it. They were all just little reminders that I’d made it. At last the uniform came off and I slipped into the clothes Becky had given me. Just a simple shirt and jeans. There was no point trying to salvage what was left of the uniform. reluctantly I bundled it up and tossed it in a trash can beside the door.

That was it, the last reminder of why I was here and who I really was. shame really. No. that wasn’t quite right. I pressed a hand to the dog tags around my neck. It’d probably be dangerous to wear them. Who knew how these people would react if they found out where I cam from. Still, I couldn’t quite bring myself to part with them. It felt like a betrayal. So I let my hand fall. 

Right then a knock came to the door and the bright face kid from the bar stepped in. “Brahmin steak! On the house!”

“thanks Vadim.” 

“of course! You know, this whole thing reminds me of the time-”

I settled in, that was the tone of a man that would surely talk me to sleep.


End file.
